Police said the checkpoint was put up after armed men in a white Hyundai van (RCK-364) robbed the occupants of three cargo trucks loaded with coconut lumber and sacks of rice in Barangay Bicud at around 9:30 p.m.

One of the suspects managed to escape, but was later arrested in Barangay Magapit.

A machine gun, a 9mm and three caliber .45 pistols were reportedly recovered from the fatalities.

Police said the Dunag robbery gang was behind a series of robberies in northern Cagayan.

In Batangas, police officers shot dead two unidentified men in an entrapment to arrest those who kidnapped businessman Riz-John Biscocho in Barangay Berinayan, Laurel two weeks ago.